Ark of Knowledge
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Very dear to my heart and soul and soul-like dear Naṣru'llāh, Vice President of K̲h̲ānah-yi Ḥikmat, may the Lord grant every kind of success and peace to you!
Accept my Yā `Alī Madad with utmost sincerity, pure heartedness and spiritual love! My cordial and intimate friend Naṣru'llāh! The literal meaning of your name (Naṣru'llāh) clearly mentions Divine help. However, we are aware that practically and in true sense this is more conspicuous in K̲h̲ānah-yi Ḥikmat because not only have you become the Vice President in this organization, but you are also its patron. Therefore, you have practically become a "divine helper" for this organization. Praise belongs to Allāh, the Lord of the worlds.
When God wants to give success to a humble mu'min in [rendering] an all-embracing service, He makes all his friends angels of goodness so that they may help him in this sacred service. Abundant gratitude to the Lord of the world that you are among my great angels.
"Sālī kih k̲h̲ẉus̲h̲ast az bahāras̲h̲paydāst – If a year is prosperous, its sign is from the very spring."
A few years back our religious friendship started with great confidence. I should be grateful to respected Fatḥ `Alī Ḥabīb for this great bounty.
I know that you and my cazīz daughter Amina appreciate spiritual knowledge highly. Hence, you make great sacrifices to spread this knowledge. You know that to spread the light of knowledge is the greatest good deed and the greatest reward according to a ḥadīs̱ , the holy Prophet says: "Four things are compulsory upon every prudent and intelligent individual of my ummat: listen to knowledge, retain
it, act upon it and spread it."
The holy Prophet further said: "Verily, the status of my ahl-i bayt among you is like Nūḥ's Ark, the one who embarks on it is saved and the one who lags behind drowns." Another saying is: "Acquire knowledge from the cālim [= rāsik̲h̲ūn fi'l-cilm, i.e., Imām of the time] of my ahl-i bayt or from that person who learned knowledge from the cālim of my ahl-i bayt so that you may be saved from the fire."
This holy ḥadīs̱ , in the language of wisdom, describes ahl-i bayt of the holy Prophet, that is, the Imām of the time as the Ark of Nūḥ not only in the time of prophethood, but also for all times because the deluge of ignorance is ever-present. Therefore, the meaning of embarking in the Ark of Nūḥ and attaining salvation is to attain knowledge from an cālim (Imām of the time) of ahl-i bayt, or from those appointed by the Imām to teach in order to attain salvation from the fire of ignorance.
Here the former ḥadīs̱ is explained by the latter one from which it is quite clear that the deluge which is found in every age is that of ignorance and deviation. The means to save oneself from it is the Ark of salvation of knowledge and guidance, the fountainhead of which is the Imām of the time. Thus, in the light of true knowledge, attachment to the exalted Imām is the surety for every kind of salvation.
Dust under the feet of mu'mins 14th May, 1984
Loud Ẕikr (Remembrance)
My cordial and spiritual friend Muhyiddin, patron and Vice President of Idārah-yi cĀrif, may God grant you success in both the worlds! Āmīn!
I say Yā `Alī Madad with extreme sincerity and darwīs̲h̲-like humility. May the Lord accept such prayers for all cazīzān. One special favor of the Lord of honor [bestowed] on this dust-like servant is that well-educated individuals like you pay complete attention to this religious knowledge and cooperate fully in publicizing it.
My angelic friend! You are fortunate to have an environment filled with spiritual knowledge, the deep wisdoms of the wise Qur'ān, conversation of spirituality and recognition (macrifat) and ẕikr-ū tasbīḥ. This everlasting wealth is granted to you and your wife as a heavenly gift. Such spiritual prosperity in any mu'min's house is a tremendous blessing from God.
From Ḥaydarābād village of Hunza, your esteemed grandfather, Qadir Shah Sahib, was a very pious and saintly individual. In his circle, he represented the Pīr because he was acquainted with the required education of that time and region. He was engrossed in worship and he had established a circle of loud ẕikr, like ṣūfīs, often performed with rubāb and daf in the morning and night. My dear uncle Qadir Shah also participated in it along with my esteemed father and many other dignitaries.
I recall a narrative I heard in China about loud remembrance (ẕikr-i jalī). There was a dispute among a few ṣūfīs over the question of loud ẕikr which reached a point where they started to use cudgels against each other, although there was no need to be upset over loud ẕikr because it is permitted in the following verse: "Allāh does not love loud speech of evil except by someone who has
been wronged" (4:148). This means that, if necessary, it is only permissible for the one wronged so that he may complain, cry and shed tears so he may be released or justice may be done. Indeed, there is also another form of injustice. Man is often a transgressor against himself. Justice and cure for this is also loud ẕikr and giryah-ū zārī and recognizing ourselves as the offender to our beloved soul, as Ḥaz̤rat-i Ādam and Ḥaz̤rat-i Ḥawwā cried and shed tears (giryah-ū zārī). They said, 'Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves. If You will not forgive us and have mercy on us surely we are among the lost' (7:23). This shows that the salient part of repentance of Ādam and Ḥawwā was loud ẕikr and crying and shedding tears (giryah-ū zārī).
It is essential to have respect, humility, modesty, harmony and a melodious voice in loud ẕikr and giryah-ū zārī. This ẕikr, with all its excellent qualities, may be miraculous, and the participants can submerge themselves in the ocean of inability and humility because there is no benefit from ẕikr which is unwieldy, cacophonous, dry, superficial, harsh and unpleasant.
Dust under the feet of mu'mins 15th May, 1984
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